I Never Lied
by Goddess Plutonia
Summary: Harry and Hermione dated while in Hogwarts, but after he broke it off, their chances were ruined. However, can they mend their wounds when they find themselves alone together for a week?
1. Chapter 1

Okay you guys, for everyone who hung in there with me, thanks so much. For everyone who's new, welcome! Hope you enjoy!

I know it's been FOUR YEARS since I wrote anything for this story, and I just happened to stumble upon it recently and after seeing some of your recent reviews I just had to continue it. However, I'm starting all over. I lost all of my notes on this story, so I no longer have the plot written down anywhere, and I have to rewrite the story from the beginning in order to remember what's going on.

I apologize for the long wait (blame school and my extreme laziness), but I'm back, and I hope to have this done by the end of the summer, if not earlier.

Enjoy! Even if you have read this before, I like this version a lot better (it's longer, hooray!) so read on, my friends, read on.

- Goddess Plutonia

I Never Lied

Chapter One

"Many couples are famous for the love they shared. Romeo and Juliet. Christian and Satine. Anthony and Cleopatra. But none of them rivaled the bond between the two greatest wizards of our time: Harry Potter and Hermione Granger.

"The pair grew up together fighting against the darkest wizard of our time, Lord Voldemort. Strong friends since age eleven, it was only when they entered their seventh year at Hogwarts did they realize their friendship ran much deeper.

"As a fellow schoolmate of the pair, this journalist reports that their relationship was one rarely seen: true love. A love so true that even when the stress of the final battle hung over their heads, they didn't allow any fear to tear them apart.

"However, two days before their graduation, something in Harry changed. After this prestigious periodical detailed their sordid night in Hogsmeade's premier hotel, Harry Potter ended the relationship. But not in person. No, not even the Boy-Who-Lived (and who soon became the Boy-Who-Conquered-the-Dark-Lord) had enough courage to do that. He did it through owl, telling her that he found someone else. With that short note, Hermione Granger discovered first hand the horror of heartbreak.

"To add insult to injury, this 'someone else' was not anyone else, but Cho Chang, his failed relationship from two years before.

"And yet, as we now approach the one year anniversary of the very public breakup between the two seekers, this reporter wonders whether love can be given another try.

"Surely the savior of this world deserves a second chance…"

Hermione gave a dry laugh as she put down the gossip section of the Daily Prophet. "Prestigious periodical, my arse."

It seemed to never end. First, there was the coverage of the night she and Harry lost their virginities to each other. As if the experience wasn't awkward and uncomfortable to begin with. Next, the papers scrambled to provide the juicy details of how Harry dumped her. "He probably freaked when he realized the entire world knew he was intimate with that mudblood bookworm" was the quote that ran for weeks, courtesy of Draco Malfoy. And since the media evidently enjoyed her public torture, they told tales of Harry and Cho's raging love affair, covering their week-long pleasure fests to the sparring they had on the field when they competed against each other.

All in all, Hermione still hated journalists, especially this so-called "fellow schoolmate" of hers, whom she never remembered seeing once in school.

They did get one fact straight: Harry Potter dumped her, and broke her heart in the process. But he most definitely didn't deserve another chance. Ever.

But as she poured herself another cup of tea, Hermione couldn't help thinking about the fact that Harry was now single.

To say that Hermione had let herself go after the breakup would have been an outright lie. Three years later, she was a top code-breaker in the Ministry, attaining the position and the reputation after graduating from the Auror Academy with highest honors and as the top student in her class.

Ignoring the newspaper, Hermione stood and walked across the kitchen to retrieve her other mail. Being one of the top Aurors in England definitely had its perks, giving Hermione respect within her field and an amazing salary, along with a mansion of a home.

Among the normal bills and business-related letters was one that stood out, a rather old and battered piece of parchment. Picking it up, Hermione smiled as she recognized the muddy paw-print adorning the front.

_Dear Hermione,_

_Well, I'm back! Since the Ministry cleared my name (finally, the paperwork took a year after they made the decision), I'm back at the house and, well, it could use some cleaning-up._

_I'm having a cleaning party on Saturday, and everyone is planning on attending. I hope you'll come._

_Waiting to hear from you,_

_Sirius_

_P.S. And when I mean everyone, I do include Harry in that statement. I hope it won't change your decision. Maybe you should give him another chance._

Hermione laughed. Maybe Sirius and that journalist collaborated to pressure Hermione into meeting Harry again. And she knew she should, but the thought left her breathless, and not necessarily in a bad way.

Would it be an awful thing to see him again? Could she take it?

There was only one way to find out.

_Dear Sirius,_

_I'll be there._

_Love, Hermione_


	2. Chapter 2

I Never Lied

Chapter Two

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"So I hear Hermione's coming."

Ron had been trying to get some reaction out of Harry for the past week, and even four hours before the event he still hadn't succeeded. They both knew that Hermione's arrival was a well-known fact by their entire group of friends, but Harry wasn't about to reveal how he felt about it.

"Yeah, and so is Ginny, Luna, you, Draco…" Harry said as he tried to diffuse the tension in the air. Better to focus on the entire group rather than the one person that…

"OY HARRY! Where's my breakfast?" Draco walked into the kitchen, looking for his food. The most surprising thing that had happened over the past three years, at least as surprising as Harry and Hermione's breakup, was the way Draco had been brought into their circle of friends. During the War, he became a double agent under Snape's guidance, and now was keeper on the Chudley Cannons with Ron. He and Harry maintained their rivalry during the Quidditch season (Harry was on Puddlemere United), but the two were close friends.

Spying some biscuits, Draco stuffed on in his mouth, not even bothering to chew before continuing with his conversation. "Do you think it's gonna be awkward with Granger there?"

Harry scowled. "Make your own breakfast." He walked out of the room.

Draco shrugged at Ron. "I'm taking that as a yes."

Later that afternoon, with everyone gathered in the living room of Marauder Mansion, Hermione didn't have any energy to concentrate on Harry – everyone was talking, asking about her life, and lamenting the fact that they were spending a weekend cleaning rooms that weren't even their own.

But the fact that he was there did not go unnoticed. Hermione kept glancing in his direction, but he never looked her way, talking instead to Sirius and Remus. His eyes had the same sorrow she saw during the preparation for the War, when he had so much on his shoulders. Her heart lurched with the idea that his breakup with Cho caused him to become a shell of his former joyful self.

When she returned to her conversation with Ginny, Harry took his opportunity to watch her. Of course, she looked gorgeous, with her curls and amber eyes. But whenever she looked his way, her eyes were cool, distant, as if she were putting up a wall between them. The fact that she felt the need to protect herself from him hurt Harry more than he was willing to admit.

"Okay everyone, we're going to tackle this in pairs: Ron and Luna, Draco and Ginny, Remus and me, and Harry and Hermione," Sirius said, looking at each person as their name was mentioned. Harry glanced at Hermione when their pairing was called, but she made no move to object. He wasn't surprised. Hermione wouldn't make a fight. At least not when they were with other people.

"And let's just start going room by room. And some of the rooms are enchanted, so if you do find yourself stuck in one for…a week…well, don't worry. We'll send a search party on the eighth day." If Harry had been paying attention to Sirius rather than admiring Hermione's new curve-hugging sweater, he would have noticed Sirius' gaze right on him. However, he was clueless to the whisperings around them as everyone partnered up.

Hermione walked over to his side of the room, but didn't say or do anything to start a conversation. They merely stood side by side, each very aware of the other's presence, until Sirius announced that they were ready to clean.

With Hermione leading, she and Harry entered the first floor corridor, opening the first door she saw, and the two went inside.

Neither noticed the six pairs of eyes following their retreat.


	3. Chapter 2 Pt 2, Chapter 3

OH MY GOD YOU GUYS. I have had Chapter Two "up" for like THREE weeks - but apparently I didn't actually upload it to the story. So sorry for the long wait...here's the second new chapter!

Hey everyone…I realized after I posted Chapter Two that I kind of left off in the middle of it, so this post is the second half of Chapter Two, and Chapter Three. I made it a lot longer (at least it seems a lot longer in my notebook), so I hope you guys enjoy it!

I Never Lied

Chapter Two (Part Two)

The cleaning passed by quickly and the pair was very successful, mostly due to the fact that both were trying to focus on the task in order to forget the presence of the other. They both glanced at each other when they thought they wouldn't get caught, blushing the few times they made contact. The rest of the day passed by, the silence never broken.

Harry carried the cleaning supplies as they ventured through the last door. Hermione gasped as she stepped inside, and Harry couldn't help but be surprised at what was in the room.

Red picture frames decorated the walls, all of happy couples, their arms wrapped around waists or shoulders, sharing kisses every now and then. Brooms and buckets forgotten, Harry walked around the perimeter.

"Oh Harry!" Hermione's exclamation shocked Harry, and when he turned around he was her pointing at one of the pictures. She turned towards him with tears in her eyes. "…It's your parents."

Harry hurried over to her spot, trying to ignore his body's reaction to her closeness even as her perfume teased his senses. The picture was indeed of his parents, looking young and happy, holding hands in front of Godric's Hollow. As Harry continued to gaze at his parents' portrait, Hermione continues to other photographs. "Look! It's Draco and Ginny, Mr. and Mrs. Weasley…"

At this Harry began to recognize other pictures. He laughed. "Here's Hagrid and Madame Maxime."

Hermione had finished her lap around the room, and returned to Harry's side. "They're all…they're all couples in love!" No later than the moment she finished saying the word 'love,' the room began to spin in a way that made floo powder feel like an afternoon nap.

"Harry!" Hermione screamed, clutching his hand. Her touch burned his skin, wakening every nerve, but Harry pushed that all away and held her hand tighter. "It'll be okay, Hermione," he said with a reassuring grin.

After a few seconds, the room stopped spinning – only, they weren't in the room anymore. Both were amazed to find themselves in what looked to be a moderate one-bedroom flat.

Seeing an envelope on a nearby coffee table, Hermione walked towards it. "Maybe it was accidental Apparition. Or the room is some sort of portkey," she said as she broke the seal.

"A portkey to _where_?" Harry asked, not moving from his spot.

Hermione looked at him stonily before reading the letter out loud. "Dear Harry and Hermione, welcome to the intervention. You both will be stuck here for one week with no magic. I hope it works for you as it has many couples before you. Sirius." She took her time folding up the letter.

"You planned this, didn't you?" Hermione asked him accusingly.

"What? Of course not!" Harry replied.

She laughed haughtily. "Oh sure. Like it wasn't your idea to get me alone for a week."

Harry snorted. "Right, like I'd ever want to spend a week alone with you. That's rich." He regretted saying it as soon as he saw her crying. "Hermione…"

"Forget it Harry." She walked to the balcony and closed the door behind her.

Harry sighed as he collapsed on the couch. That was definitely not the way to start off. If Sirius was being truthful about the week stay, this was going to be a very long seven days.

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I Never Lied

Chapter Three

Harry spent the rest of the day sitting on the couch waiting for Hermione to make an appearance, but it seemed like that wasn't going to happen for a while. Hermione was certainly stubborn when she wanted to be. Harry couldn't help thinking about a passage from a book in Muggle Studies, except that he saw that it was _not_ good, and so passed the first day.

As the clock chimed midnight, Harry began pacing nervously, wondering if Hermione was ever going to come back in. When he could take it no longer, he cautiously opened the balcony door and peered outside.

What he saw made his heart swell with tenderness before he could stop himself.

Hermione, intent on proving just how tough and angry she was, had fallen asleep in her attempts to continue the fight. Her small body was curled up on one of the wooden chaise loungers, but her shivers revealed that she wasn't impervious to everything – she would freeze if she spent the night out here.

Millions of ideas swarmed inside Harry's head, but foremost was to get Hermione inside. Trying to calm his fast-beating heart, Harry took a few deep breaths before picking up Hermione and carrying her into the flat.

She was small and light, almost fragile, in his arms, just like she had been three years before. Harry could now catch the scent of her shampoo, and realized why he always felt butterflies when he smelled grapefruit. Her eyelashes rested against her cheek, dark against the pale skin. Her fingers still had the writer's callus, and even the ink stains were still there.

She was as perfect as she was then, perhaps even more so. And Harry felt his pulse quicken, his step lighten, and his mouth smile in reaction to her. Just as he used to.

Harry quickly carried her inside, nudging the bedroom door open with his shoulder and placing her gently on the bed. He waved his hands for the sheets to tuck themselves around her, but when they didn't move he remembered the house rule. Sighing, Harry softly pulled the bedding from beneath her sleeping form and arranged the bedspread around her to make sure she wouldn't get cold in the middle of the night.

"Harry…" Hermione whispered sleepily.

All movement stopped. Even his heart stopped beating. Her voice, saying his name just as she used to, was too much for him. To be this close to her had become physically painful. He began to leave the room when her mumbling stopped him once more.

"Don't go."

Harry paused in the doorway, unsure of who was asking him to stay. Was it Hermione in a dream, a dream where they were still happy together? Or was the present day Hermione pleading for his company? Harry highly doubted the Hermione asking was the latter. That Hermione, it seemed, didn't want to be in the same room as him.

"Harry, please…stay." This time her request was followed by movement, the curve of her back visible even through the sheets.

Harry, still unsure, kept glancing half-heartedly at the door and hopefully at the bed. All he wanted was to be closer to her once more, and, after all, he was only a man.

He hesitated in the doorway only long enough to turn off the lights before crossing over to the bed and sliding in beside Hermione.

As he drifted off, Harry couldn't remember a time when he had been so content.

Hours later, as the morning sun rose, Harry had trouble remembering where he was – because this was definitely a dream. Sometime in the night, as Harry slept on his back, Hermione had shifted closer to him, laying her arm across him and resting her head on his chest. When he felt the peaceful calm spreading through his body, an effect only she had on him, Harry realized this wasn't a figment of his imagination; he really was sharing a bed with Hermione.

Hermione moved against him, stretching in her last moments of sleep. Harry smiled as he recognized her little quirks, relishing the chance to see them once again. She situated herself more on top of his body, pressing her curves against him, and Harry felt the stirrings of arousal he always felt around her. He tightened his hold on her, stroking the skin of her arm.

"Mmm….Harry." Hermione murmured, half-asleep. Harry began to play with her hair as she woke up.

"Morning sunshine," he said with a smile as she turned her face towards him.

Her response was a high-pitched, screaming tirade.

"HARRY JAMES POTTER! What do you think you're doing in here? Sharing a bed with me? As if you had the right to…my god. Of course, you always were a self-centered bastard and I don't allow those in my personal space so get out of my room." During this, Hermione had scurried out of bed and walked purposefully to the door, yanking it open and motioning the path Harry was to take, in case he forgot how to leave.

"Hermione, you asked me to stay…" Harry pleaded, trying to find some way to reconcile.

"I was half-asleep, Harry. You cannot hold me to things I say when I'm not fully conscious." She retorted, but the blush on her cheeks betrayed her – she wasn't as unaffected by his presence as she was trying to portray. Her body shrunk with defeat.

"Harry, I don't want to fight. Please…just go." Her downcast eyes filled with tears.

Getting out of the bed, Harry crossed the room to the doorway. "Hermione, I'm sorry." He reached for her hand. "I'm sorry. For everything."

Leaving the room, Harry couldn't ignore the sound of muffled sobbing coming from behind the door.

Here he was, one day gone and no closer to getting Hermione back. But he refused to believe it was a hopeless cause. He had her right there – he wasn't going to let her go again.


	4. Chapter 4

Here's the next chapter, enjoy!

I Never Lied

Chapter Four

The second day passed the same way as the first – in total silence. Hermione, once again, avoided Harry at all costs, stepping outside of the room only to raid the library and fruit basket. Harry, once again, continued to spend the hours pacing and sitting anxiously, his mind wandering to all possible situations that would give him the opportunity to fix this.

Harry sat there, willing his hands to produce a wand so he could at least do something. No impressive skill in wandless magic was going to work – there wasn't any magic, and there was no way around it. And Harry was bored out of his mind.

He kept staring at his hands, wondering what he was doing to do. He knew his body was scarred from the trials he endured, but his hands definitely took the brunt of the attacks. Along with the calluses from quidditch, his broom, and the faint scars leftover from the war, on the back of his hand, Harry could just barely make out five words: "I must not tell lies."

And suddenly, Harry knew how to get Hermione back.

He only hoped his plan wouldn't fail.

-----

An hour later, Harry stood, staring at the pot of unboiling water, deeply regretting his decision.

Boiling an egg should be easier than this.

"Oh well, here goes," Harry muttered under his breath, dropping an egg into the pot. He had more important things to do: bacon. A lifetime at the Dursleys meant he could do things like that, at the very least.

Ten minutes later, the pot was bubbling, the bacon was sizzling, and everything seemed to be in order. Setting the table, Harry kept a close watch on the stove, anxious for everything to be perfect.

Running outside to grab flowers for the table, Harry came in to find utter catastrophe. In his short absence, the water had started boiling over, and the bacon was on the verge of blackening.

"Oh crap." The next few moments were a blur, as Harry raced towards the stove, turned off the heat, and, as he grabbed the pot, sneezed because of the pollen, causing the entire contents of the pot to spill all over his hand and the egg to splatter on the floor.

"OH BLOODY FUCK!" he yelled as he thrust his hand under the cold water tap. All Harry knew was pain, so he didn't hear a door open and didn't notice Hermione's presence until she was standing over the sink next to him.

"Oh Harry," she cried as she saw his burned limb, "What were you doing?"

"…boiling an egg." The words sounded stupid even to him. "I was trying to make breakfast."

Hermione laughed kindly. "But didn't the Dursleys teach you how to make eggs?"

Harry shook his head. "Only scrambled. But you like them boiled, so I was trying."

Harry was surprised to hear the sound of muffled sobs coming from Hermione. Looking down, she was clutching a cool washcloth with one hand and wiping her eyes with the other. "You remembered. You remembered that I like boiled eggs. I thought you…"

At this point, Harry was done. He just burned his hand, and now his failure had scored him major brownie points. But he was no where near where he wanted to be, if she still believed things like that. "You thought what? That I forgot about you completely? Asked Cho to obliviate you from my mind? God, Hermione, I'm not a bastard."

She stood there, shocked. "Well, you have an odd way of showing that."

Harry winced from her icy glare and the lingering pain from the burn. "Hermione, I didn't mean it like that, you know that."

Hermione threw down the washcloth and folded her arms across her chest in a classic Protective Hermione stance. "No, I don't know that, Harry. Why don't you explain it to me?"

"Goddamn it Hermione! Don't make yourself out to be the victim here! I had Lord bloody Voldemort looking for me! I didn't need him after you too! I couldn't lose you. Hermione, god, you were the only thing keeping me alive that year! And then the papers found out, and I didn't want Death Eaters to know it was true, so I had to…it was to protect you."

"Protect me? Protect me from what?" Hermione looked at him as if he had grown an extra head. "You thought dumping me and dating Cho would make me feel safe? That I would feel at ease with the situation even though you went out on your first date less than a week after I gave you my virginity? You thought I was safe?" Hermione's voice had risen to a glass-shattering volume.

"Well you weren't dead! I didn't want you to hate me, but it was worth it if you stayed alive. I didn't want you to die, Hermione!"

Hermione took a step nearer to him and lowered her voice. "There are worse things than death, Harry. Like seeing the love of your life with someone else. I would rather have been Crucio'ed a million times, Harry. That pain you caused me was worse than anything Voldemort could have done."

Harry closed his eyes in despair. "Hermione, don't say that. That's not—"

"That's not what, Harry? Not true?" Harry nodded, and Hermione scoffed at his action. "Harry, don't you think I knew the dangers of being with you? That I knew it would be risky, and I could have died? Harry, did you ever stop to wonder why I kissed you in the first place?"

Hermione paused and waited for Harry to make eye contact with her.

"Because it was worth it. Every second with you was worth whatever risk there was. I loved you, Harry. I…I still do."

Harry looked at her in surprise, but she stopped him from saying anymore.

"I still do. And I'm still feeling the same pain from three years ago. Harry, the day you said your feelings were too much and you needed a break was the worst day of my life. I couldn't believe all that we had was a lie. I spent so many—"

"Hermione," Harry began.

Hermione cut him off. "No, Harry. I need to finish this. I need to…"

"I never lied, Hermione."

Hermione stopped mid-sentence, looking at him, quizzically. "Harry, what are you talking about?"

Harry took a deep breath and took a few steps towards her until he was only inches away. "I never lied when I said that I loved you, Hermione. I never lied when I said the feelings were too much. Pushing you away was a mistake, I realize that now, but those feelings were too much – my love for you was so strong. I thought I could get over it, but I can't Hermione. I still love you. I never stopped."


End file.
